I don't know who the International Council of Journal Editors
is, but I do know that the day has long since passed when
"conflicts of interest" can be enforced without legal consequences.
Without severe penalties, I am convinced that massive lying (perjury)
is taking place in courts all over this nation and the world.
Power appears no different now than in the days of King Henry VIII.
It takes what it can get. Scientists are apparently no different
in this respect than feudal lords.
In the past week, in a copyrighted story in the New York Times,
Science reporter Philip Hilts quoted the President of a Virginia
Tobacco Consulting Company, who altered data on shared cigarette
smoke, because "the numbers just didn't look right".
If this kind of bullshit is not going to be punished by prison time
or significant personal fines, our society will be headed for
hell in a handbasket.
Perhaps it is.
Sorry to depress you.
Sincerely,
Bert Gold, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Pathology and Lab. Medicine, Temple University
Adjunct Assistant Professor, Pathology and Cell Biology, Jefferson
Medical School in Philadelphia